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The hard evidence resting between my fingers sends me stumbling back and my chest caves. He went on living while I slept underground with only my nightmares to keep me company. If this is him in this photo, then who the hell is the man who woke me? Why did his blood work? Why is the pull between us so strong?
Setting the photo down, my hand shakes as my gaze drifts along the other pictures. They are all different people. The stranger who I recently had breakfast with said this was his family's home. They all must share it when wanting to enjoy a beach vacation. What brought him out here alone, and why is he spending his time inside instead of enjoying the beautiful outdoors? I could feel his sadness from across the table as he rolled a picture of him and another guy between his fingers.
Someone hurt him. The heartbreak in his eyes was recognizable. I know that pain too well but forget all about it whenever he's around.
I want to help him too. Maybe I can bring his smile back—real smiles that don't feel forced. We can swim in the ocean, build sand castles, and collect sand dollars while watching the sunset.
My favorite pastime when out here was lying on the sand, holding Albert's hand. Someone else gets to do that now. My heart sinks, but when I look toward the room I slept in last night, it picks itself back up. Weird.
"Mate," something from within screams as my eyes land on a framed image of the man I fell asleep next to last night —the man whose blood I drank and still thirst for.
He was right. He isn't Albert, and a part of me says I don't need him to be, while my heart doesn't know how to fully let him go. We shared too much. Was I mistaken before? Did I fall in love with the wrong person? Was it really wrong if in the end it led me to the right person?
Turning away from the pictures, I stand in front of his bedroom, not sure if I should go in or wait until he comes out. My fingers itch to touch him again and my body aches to be near him. This is my mate. The man I'm fated to be with. Albert was merely a stepping stone, and he is the destination I was supposed to end up at.
If they are related, then why didn't he recognize Albert’s name? He kept saying he didn't know Albert but the pictures of them standing beside each other prove otherwise. There were so many. Some of them on a boat or on the beach, others at family gatherings. They resemble each other a lot while also being so different.
I didn't like spending time away from Albert, but it never ate me up inside the way it is with me standing in a different room from the younger man. We’re in the same house but it isn’t enough. After spending so many lifetimes without him, I'm not ready to be away from him so soon. How crazy is it to want someone you don't know. The intensity is so great, it consumes me.
Knowing he needs his rest and space, I go to the living room and fall back onto the couch. Everything really has changed. TVs are different. There aren't any VCRs. Where do you play the movies at? Studying the remote on the coffee table, I eye each button carefully and hit the one with the power symbol. Nothing happens. How does it work? The next time I press it, the screen lights up and I lie back on the cushions.
A menu pops up showing weird symbols I don't recognize. Then I see one I do and immediately select it. All the options overwhelm me and I scroll past Albert's favorite movie, almost wanting to select it for old times’ sake. No. He's moved on and so should I. He didn't free me, someone else did—the man who didn't exist until it was time for him to.
"What ya watching?Constantine?Legion? Oh wait, I know,Insidious."
"I have no idea what any of that is," I state, looking back at him.
Wearing an oversized sweater, he smiles as he enters the living room and collapses beside me on the long sectional. Not too far but not close enough either. "In that case, we should watch all of them. You can tell me which one's more accurate." His tone is playful.
"How about you put on what you want to see." I hand him the remote. "I want to know what you like to watch."
"It probably won't be the same as him."
"Good." I inch close enough for our legs to rub together.
Staring between us, his Adam's apple bobs in his throat and he scrolls through a list of movies, not stopping until he lands onInterview with the Vampire.
"Really?" I glare in his direction.
"Oh, so you know it?"
"Yes, I do. Saw it in the theater."
"With Albert?"
"No." I let out a sigh. "Alone. Every time I came to earth for a job, I stopped at a movie theater before returning home and watched whatever movie was playing next."
"Why a movie theater?"
Shrugging, I drag a blanket from the back of the couch, spreading it over us. "I don't know. I like watching movies. It was nice to experience some of the same things that humans did."
"Did you share a lot of those experiences with Albert?"
"Not as many as I would have liked. He didn't care to leave the house much and preferred the beach to the city."
"Where do you like to be the most?" he asks, adjusting the blanket.
Smiling, I rest a hand on his knee. "Right here is good."
